Archive for June, 2011

So it seems Hamsher has some sort of connection with a comapany that sells political ads, some of them for Republicans. So?

The obots are clearly trying to marginalize and isolate Hamsher in an effort to take away her oxygen. They don’t want her to go on TV and say that Obama has broken his promises. They want to do to her what they did to the Hillary bloggers, marginalize her. Well, maybe they will succeed and Hamsher won’t get on TV anymore.

But Obama’s problem is not that Hamsher is saying nasty things about him. Obama’s problem in 9% unemployment. Obama’s problem is that rather bringing war criminals to justice he has reappointed them. Obama’s proplem it the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and his shiny new war in Libya, to say nothing of freedom bombs for Yemen and Pakistan. Obama’s problem is rising foreclosures. Obama’s problem is rather than end the war on women he has expanded it.

It would not matter if Jane Hamsher were to suddenly start blogging like Booman. Obama would still be losing support with Netroots. And the more Obama unleashes his online enforcers against his critics, the more popular Obama’s critics will become.

Per this morning’s Playbook, Jon Huntsman’s official campaign website is going to be http://www.Jon2012.com. Right now, it’s just a “Coming Soon” banner, but by the time he announces his candidacy tomorrow it will be bursting with the usual multi-media features (hopefully not too many). Anyone else puzzled by the biblical allusion in that URL? When I read it, I hear “John 20:12.”

Curious about the passage, I looked it up. The King James Bible version: “And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” (If that’s too taxing for you, here’s the New Living Translation: “She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying.”) Okay, so it’s the resurrection.

It is obviously a dog whistle to the evangelical vote. This will go right over the heads of the secular set and the idea is that it will appeal to bible thumpers

I have been a political junkie since I was old enough to understand the democratic process, and never in my entire life have I seen a White House Communications Director be so clueless, so tone deaf, so wildly and hopelessly out of touch with the largest constituency of a sitting president.

And it’s manifestly evident the problem isn’t with Pfeiffer’s competency. The problem is that the entire Obama administration is structurally and institutionally clueless, tone deaf, and wildly and hopelessly out of touch with their largest constituency, and Pfeiffer is just doing his job—communicating the White House’s position.

It isn’t just Obama, it is the entire Democratic party, or the war on women would not be going anywhere.

It was in speaking with fellow rank and file netroots types that I soon realized what was really going on at this conference. The dominant theme of the conference was not chosen, intended, or likely desired by any of the organizers. It wasn’t discussed by any of the panels or speakers I saw. Instead, it was in the halls, in the questions, and on the lips of those without an exhibitor, speaker, or media badge.

The unofficial theme of this conference was of a movement at a crossroads, with a choice between our most deeply cherished principles and our understandable concern in accidentally empowering an insane and openly fascist Republican Party over a corrupt, ideologically conservative, and fully propagandized Democratic Party.

My problem is solved, but Violet Socks, one of our best feminist bloggers, is in trouble. Please help if you are in a position to do so!

UPDATE: Problem solved. No additional donations needed at this time. I cannot begin to describe the level of gratitude to those who have assisted me.

Here in blogosphere we are building a movement that the big shots cannot coopt. Oh, individual bloggers can be coopted, even large blogging communities can be corrupted, but blogosphere as a whole remains vibrant.

Here at D2route we have taken on school deform, health care, the financial kleptocracy and Moden Monetary’s Theory response. We have even tried to highlight the work for local groups trying to make things better.

But this is more time consuming than it looks and carries a terrible opportunity cost. Right now I am in a financial bind. it is a small one right now, I have a small problem that could be set right for the cost of a large pizza, but if it is not set right, it could become a very big problem.

If you enjoy my blogging about local issues mixed with health care and financial follies, please send some cash! A small amoutn today will make a HUGE difference to me tomorrow!

I really do want to believe that MMT is right and the Mosler is an oracle, but like I said it seems too good to be true – and when things seem to be too good to be true they usually are.

I hesitated for the same reason. I saw him present at the Fiscal Sustainability Teach in Counter Conference. He was very clear that just printing money could lead to inflation. The key is unused productive capacity, and with unemployment soaring to 9% we are over taxed and in desperate need of a fiscal stimulous.

You can download his book for free here. Or just read his blog and ask questions, he responds to his email.

Warren Mosler has been trying to spell out the solution for a long time now. Namely a payroll tax reduction: that feeds stimulus direct into household pockets.

But the political and Wall Street elite would hate to see money flowing into peasants’ pockets. The former want it flowing into their own pockets. That wouldn’t matter too much if they actually spent it on something: butlers, chamber-maids, servants, yachts, you name it.

But they don’t: they use the money boost stock market prices or take the money out of the US altogether in search of better returns around the globe.

Perhaps the elite will finally be happy when the peasants are chopped up into little pieces and turned into dog food.

The elite would do well to listen to Mosler and the MMT people, otherwise it is the peasants who might do the chopping.